Sweet Homeby Rashida James-Saadiya

In Louisiana on Feb. 1, 1996, a group of churches within six miles, Cypress Grove Baptist, St. Paul's Free Baptist, Thomas Chapel Benevolent Society in East Baton Rouge, and Sweet Home Baptist in Baker were each set on fire on the 36th anniversary of the Greensboro, North Carolina sit­-in.

What I remember ember resting on hands blood hidden in the pleats of my dress

bodies bent and rocking, a hymn full of broken pieces with no place to go

the spirits we walk on won’t lay down they want glory or something to wash the stench away

How does it feel ? to be alive and unwanted like an eruption of skin a knife born into your heart a thousand screams clutching the sky

the words are caught in my throat all we have is burning red, blazing and bright a sign the living can read heat that will melt your mouth crawl up your spine remind you of night riders, gripping kerosene

enough matches to take your breath away this story is made of bones aching for tomorrow what waits behind the trees across the old tracks

history coming to set your day on fire

Rashida James-­Saadiya is a writer, visual artist and cultural educator. Her work addresses otherness, aesthetics and the complexities of womanhood in America. In addition, she is a founding member and co­editor of Voyages, a quarterly online journal exploring complexities of Africana Arts and Culture, through progressive literature, afro futurism and creative thinking.

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